Military expert analyzes goal of Kursk region incursion

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel.

"The operation continues in information silence. We can only guess, but we do not know the exact purpose and objectives of this operation. Even the directions of the strikes are estimated based on the enemy's data, but we can assume the reasons for these events," noted Lakiychuk.

The security expert reminded that after the start of the Russian operation in Kharkiv region in May this year, the Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine General Budanov warned that the enemy was concentrating forces on another part of the front, in particular on the other side of the border, i.e. on the Sumy direction. It was then that the name of the locality of Sudzha was mentioned for the first time in the context of the war.

"That is, we can make two assumptions. Perhaps there was a provocation by the Russian Federation to create a so-called sanitary frontier in the Sumy region, which was quickly and firmly rebuffed by trained units of the Defense Forces, who went on the offensive. Or a bolder assumption is that it was a preemptive counterstrike to disorganize enemy groups preparing for an offensive and disrupt their plans. As it turns out, units preparing for an offensive are often not ready for defense," emphasized Lakiychuk.

Cross-border raid in Russia’s Kursk region  

On August 6, the authorities of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly tried to break through the Russian border, but were allegedly pushed back. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group retreated to its territory.”

The Main Intelligence Directorate refused to comment on the statements regarding the Kursk region. However, NV media, citing its own source in Ukrainian intelligence, wrote that the events in the Kursk region "definitely did not involve fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps, who are fighting as part of Ukraine's Armed Forces.”

The Institute for the Study of War noted that the Russian Defense Ministry, acting governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov, and some propagandists have different versions of the events in the Kursk region.

On August 7, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin convened the Russian military leadership to discuss the situation in the Kursk region, which he called a "large-scale provocation." At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to "strongly condemn the Kyiv regime's criminal attacks on Russian territory."

Staff at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant fear that the plant's management has not prepared for a possible attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, Russians in the Kursk region have begun to create UAV operator units from civilians. They are given up to 10 hours for training.

On August 7, a state of emergency was introduced in the Kursk region.